Posts Tagged ‘Russell Pearce’

Today marks a new beginning for the Arizona Republican Party. Small businessman Robert Graham was elected Chairman with 70 percent of the vote. It’s the first “landslide” for Party Chairman in a decade.

He built a very diverse coalition of support, earning the endorsement of Congressman Trent Franks, (and having support of other delegation members) while at the same time getting endorsements from former Maricopa County GOP Chairman Rob Haney, former Senate President Russell Pearce and former state GOP Chairman Randy Pullen.

This is welcome news for the Arizona GOP – an incoming chairman who has broad support from the grassroots and respect among the business community. It reflects what the Republican Party is all about – hard working, freedom-loving people coming together to advance liberty by fighting against big government and corrupt big business cronies (think GE, Solyndra, GM, Goldman Sachs, etc.)

Graham is a successful small businessman who can relate to every element of the Republican Party. His leadership will position the party to be in great shape going into the 2014 elections.

The Obama campaign has repeatedly claimed that they view Arizona as an opportunity to “expand the map” for their electoral strategy.

They are smoking crack.

The last time a Democrat Presidential candidate won Arizona was Bill Clinton (with 47% of the vote, to Dole’s 45% of the vote) in 1996 – and that was only because Ross Perot’s 8% showing siphoned off votes that would largely have otherwise gone to Bob Dole.

This New York Timesarticle breathlessly reports how there are many things that point to the possibility of an Obama victory in Arizona: Sen. Russell Pearce being recalled, Daniel Valenzuela being elected to the Phoenix City Council, a Democrat being elected Mayor of Tucson.

Poor Helene Cooper doesn’t realize how absurd her examples look.

Sen. Russell Pearce’s loss in the recall election had nothing to do with Hispanic voters – in fact, Jerry Lewis’s margin of victory demonstrates that Lewis won among Republicans in that race.

Yes, the Hispanic population has grown by big numbers in the last decade – but it isn’t even at its high point, which was about three years ago.

There is something that is really important to understand when it comes to the Hispanic vote in Arizona. They just don’t turnout in large enough numbers to sway a statewide race.

To wit: in 2008, Rep. Ed Pastor won in a landslide with 72% of the vote in Congressional District 4. That 72% consisted of 89,721 votes.

That same year, Democrat candidate Bob Lord only garnered 42% of the vote against Rep. John Shadegg. That 42% consisted of 115,759 votes.

So you have a losing Democrat in CD3 getting 26,000 more votes than Ed Pastor who wins in a landslide in his majority-Hispanic district. That is a turnout problem, and it’s not going to be fixed anytime soon – especially by a President who has not delivered the hope and change that he campaigned on in 2008.

However, I hope and pray they spend millions in Arizona in their futile effort. It means less money will spent in true battleground states.

Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year. Thanksgiving is being wiped out by “Black Friday” which is actually now starting on Thanksgiving Day. I’m all for economic activity, but this is getting a little absurd.

***

The “failure” of the super committee didn’t happen yesterday, it happened when it was created as a part of the deal to raise the debt limit back in August. It was a terrible idea, and did exactly what Washington is best at doing: punting on the tough issues.

***

Friday Night Lights is one of the best TV shows in recent memory. Why is it that I never start a show from it’s beginning? My favorite shows have mostly been those that I discovered long into their run (Lost) or already canceled (Arrested Development).

***

The defeat of State Senator Russell Pearce in the recall, the ousting and then re-instatement of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Chairman, the future of Rep. Gabby Giffords, among other things proves that Arizona politics is not likely to get boring anytime soon.

Yesterday’s election was proof, once again, that voters can be finicky – and that’s the way it should be.

Here is a rundown:

Legislative District 18 Recall

The big story was the surprise victory of Republican Jerry Lewis over Republican State Senate President Russell Pearce. Pearce was placed on recall ballot through the efforts of some left-wing and Democrat- affiliated organizations, but it was conservative Republican Jerry Lewis who took advantage of the opportunity by running a very solid race. Pearce outspent Lewis as much as 3-1, and Pearce also enjoyed support from some independent expenditures and the entirety of the Republican establishment.

It wasn’t enough. Voters were given a choice between a hard-edged Mormon conservative Republican whose main issue has been immigration (Pearce) and a softer spoken Mormon conservative Republican who has been a champion for school choice (Lewis). This will likely impact the next legislative session, in that there will be fewer immigration-related issues at the forefront.

Lewis will be a good fit in a conservative State Senate, but Pearce loyalists will likely spend time unnecessarily sniping at him – and he may be a short termer, depending on what happens with redistricting.

City of Phoenix

In the Phoenix, union-backed Greg Stanton prevailed over Wes Gullet. Thelda Williams prevailed over a challenge from the right. One of the unspoken stories in that race was the Williams enjoyed strong support from the LDS community (who would typically be more aligned with a more conservative candidate) because of her work in helping the LDS Church preserve the ability to build a temple in the north reaches of Phoenix. Daniel Valenzuela bested Brenda Sperduti. After Jim Waring unseated a union boss in August, there is a pretty even split on how much union influence there will be at City Hall.